The National Chairman of the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, has
said politicians’ penchant for vote buying could mar the 2019 general
elections.

“As we are approaching the 2019
general elections, INEC needs the support and collaboration of EFCC, to check
open vote buying at polling stations. This development, which we observed in
elections that we have conducted after the 2015 general elections, is giving
the commission serious worry,” Yakubu told acting EFCC Chairman, Mr. Ibrahim
Magu, who paid a courtesy call on him, Thursday.

Professor Yakub said it was the
intention of the country’s electoral umpire not to tolerate open vote buying,
and called on the EFCC to come to the commission’s aid.

“Our democracy is on sale in an
open market, INEC is worried. We have observed this, in the series of elections
we have conducted recently and thus, must stop. Open vote buying will not be
tolerated during the 2019 elections.

“We don’t want the outcome of the
2019 elections to be determined by the amount of money some people can deploy
on election day for the polling booths. Our democracy will be in jeopardy and
the choice of the people will be mortgaged,” he told Magu.

On his part, the INEC chairman
also wanted the EFCC to collaborate with the commission on the need to curb
spending for elections above what the electoral laws stipulate, and noted that
the commission lacks the capacity to monitor flow of money into the system.

“We need to work closely with
EFCC to achieve this. If we get our electoral system right, we will get our
democracy right and we will be on the path to addressing the myriads of
problems facing the country.

“It will also help EFCC; chase
most of the big corruption cases related to our electoral system,” he urged
Magu.